gledhill



'4 Sheets- Sheet 1.

, l M. GLBDHILL. DEVICE FOR IlsrsBRATINGv 0R RB MOVING TUBES 1N ORDNA'N'GB.

. Patented July 24', 1894.

4 Sheets--Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

IVL GLEDHILL. DEVICE EOE INSEETINGEE EEMOVINE TUBES IN ORDNANGE. No. 523,633.v

Patented July 24, 1894.

(No Model.) sheetssheet 3. A' M.v GLEDHILL. DBVIGB POR INSERTING 0R REMOVING TUBES IN ORDNANGB.

Patented July 24, 1894.

(No Model.) 4 sheets-sheet 4.

M. GLEDHILL.

DEVICE PoR INSBRTING 0R RBMOVING TUBES IN ORDNANGB. No. 523,633. Patented July 24.1894.

MANASSAH GLEDHILL, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE MESSRS. SIR JOSEPH WHITWORTH du COMPANY, LIMITED, OF SAME PLACE.

DEVICE FOR INSERTING OR REMOVING TUBES IN ORDNANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 523,633, dated July 24, 1894.

APPHGMOII filed July 21.1892. Serial No. 440,802. (No model.) Patented in England .l'nly 6, 1887, No. 9.564.

:To @ZZ whom t may concern/.-

B e it known that I, MANAssAH GLEDHILL, englneer, director of Sir Joseph Whitworth d; Company, Limited, of Openshaw, Manchester, England, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and a resident of Openshaw, Manchester, England, h'ave invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to Devices for Inserting or Removing Tubes in Ordnance, (for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 9,564, dated July 6, 1887,) of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to novel apparatus for the insertion and removal of the liners or inner tubes of ordnance, which apparatus will be specially advantageous in cases where, in actual service or practice, the liner is worn o ut or otherwise injured, as it provides very simple means for withdrawing the said liner and replacing the same by a new liner.

The said apparatus is chiefly designed for use in connection with the guns described in my application for Letters Patent of the United States, led July 21, 1892, Serial No. 440,801. It may, however, be used -in connection with other guns in which an inner tube or liner is employed.

According to my said invention I construct a special form of hydraulic apparatus which I apply to the end of the gun and connect with a pump in such a manner that under the pressure obtained thereby, the said apparatus can be caused to act either to force in or draw out theliner, that is to say, I can use the said apparatus in the construction of a gun to force the liner into its place, or in repairing a gun to start the liner from the tube in which it is inserted, so that its removal from the gun can be easily effected, or to force into the said tube a new liner to replace the one removed.

In the accompanying drawingsz--Figure 1 is a longitudinal central section of a gun constructed according to the aforementioned specification ready for the insertion of the liner or inner liningA Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section of the said gun with the liner therein, showing hydraulic apparatus,

constructed according to my present invention, for forcing in the said liner. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central section, drawn to an enlarged scale, of part of the said gun showing a modified form of the said hydraulic apparatus. Fig. 4E is a similar view showing the said hydraulic apparatus adapted forwithdrawing the liner from the gun. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal central section, also drawn to an enlarged scale, showing another form or modiiication of my hydraulic apparatus adapted v for withdrawing the liner. Eig. 6 is a longitudinal central section of part of -the said gun, showing a further modification of my hydraulic apparatus adapted for withdrawing the said liner.

Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.

The A, B, 2 B and C tubes or hoops of the gun are indicated respectively by these letters.

d is the liner or inner lining of the gun.

The said hydraulic apparatus comprises a cylinder Z) in or upon one end of which is cut a screw-thread to fit a corresponding screwthread in or on the breech end of the gun, upon which, when the apparatus is to be used, the said cylinder is fixed. This cylinder is fitted with a piston c which is made tight by'cup-leathers or other suitable means. The said piston has fitted therein or attached thereto by screw-threads or by a screw-nut or otherwise the forcing-in ram or the withdrawing bar hereinafter referred to, either of which can be removed and replaced by the other as required.

When my improved apparatus is to be used for the insertion of the liner in the con'- struction of a gun, or in the renewal or replacement of the liner of a gun, I use the ram or head d, which, in the apparatus shown in Fig. 2, fits into a tubular extension c* 0f the piston c and the forward end surface of which ram or head is designed to bear against the rear end of the liner, as shown, when the said liner has been inserted into its tube. The piston c is formed withanother cylindrical or tubular'extension e which is fitted to slide through a hole in the cylinder end, and is kept tight therein by a cup-leather or other suitable means. To force theliner into its place in the tube A, the hydraulic cylinder b is connected to the pump so that the water enters the cylinder between the piston c and the outer or rear end of the cylinder. The pump being then operated, the pressure acts to drive the liner home into the tube.

In Fig. 3, the piston is made, without the extension ci above described and the ram or head CZ passes through the said piston and into the extension c thereof.

When the apparatus is to be used for withdrawing the liner, I use the withdrawing bar or tube c, Fig. 4, which has a screw threaded socket c designed to engage with the end of the liner a when the liner-nut is removed from the same. A disk or platef furnished with cup-leathers is tted within the cylinder b to close the forwa rd end thereof. This disk or plate bears against the breech end of the gun when the cylinder is screwed thereon. The extension c of the piston c is fitted to slide in a hole in the said disk or platef, and the withdrawing bar or tube e is passed through the said extension and screwed into the piston c, so that it forms the rod thereof. Instead 0f screwing the cylinder on the gun and using the said plate f to form the end thereof, I can make the said cylinder with its end solid or in one piece with its body and screw or otherwise x the said cylinder on the end of the gun, as shown in Fig. 6. The said bar or tube c is screwed on the end of the liner a. in place of the nut. The hydraulic cylinder is tightly screwed or otherwise secured upon the end of the gun and is connected with the pump so that the water forced by the same will enter the cylinder b between the piston c and the aforesaid disk or cylinder end; the pump being then operated, the pressure exerted upon the piston c forces it rearwardly away from the breech of the gun and therebyT starts the liner from the tube A.

It will be seen that the piston shown in Fig. 3 for inserting or forcing in the liner may be used in the cylinder shown in Fig. 4 for withdrawing the liner, the position of the said pis- "ton being reversed and the withdrawing bar e being substituted for the ram d.

I sometimes combine with the above described withdrawing apparatus, a rod g Figs. 4 and 5, which passes through the piston c and tube e and extends to the muzzle end of the gun, where it is provided with a head g (Fig. 5) or with a collar or nut, which engages with the end of the liner ct as shown. The said rod g is connected with the piston c by a screw-nut g2 or otherwise, so that, as the said piston moves away from the breech under the hydraulic pressure as above specified, force tending to withdraw the liner a is simultaneously applied at both ends of the same, that is to say, to the breech end through the tube e and to the muzzle end through the rod g. By the use of this device I am enabled to apply at both ends of the gun force tending to extract the liner, and I avoid or greatly diminish the danger of separating and pulling away the rear portion from the forward portion of the liner and leaving the latter fast in the tube which, although not probable, is possible when the withdrawing force or pull is applied only to the breech end of the said liner.

In some instances, the hydraulic cylinder has two compartments b b2 and is provided with two pistons c c2 as shown in Fig. 5, that is to say, it has in the compartment b a piston c provided with a withdrawing tube e to be connected with the breech end of the liner as above described, and in the compartment b2 a piston c2 to be connected with the rod g extending through the withdrawing tube e to the muzzle of the gun. The connection of the piston c with the tube e is effected by means of a screw nut e2 and that of the piston c2 with the rod g by means of screw-nut g2.

The apparatus shown in Fig. 5 can, if desired, be used for inserting or forcing in the liner as shown in Fig. 2. Y

To prevent upsetting or enlargement of the diameter of the muzzle end of the liner, I sometimes provide a nut to replace the muzzle locking-nut when the rod g is used for withdrawing the liner.

Instead of attaching the withdrawing bar or tube c to the liner by screwing it upon the threads from which the liner-nut has been unscrewed as aforesaid, I sometimes cut a thread in the liner at or beyond the inner end of the chamber of the vgun as shown at h in Fig. 6, for receiving the screw-threaded end g3 of a withdrawing bar or rod g and thus securing the said rod to the liner. This device will be advantageous if the liner should be found to be injured and weakened in the part forming the chamber.

In the apparatus shown in Fig. 6, the rod g is screwed into the piston c, and a plug g4 is screwed into the breech end of the gun in place of the breech-plug ring, for the purpose of guiding the piston c and rod g. This plug g4 is formed with a recess g5 into which the liner can be drawn, so as to increase the space through which the said liner may be moved backward by the said piston and rod.

I have hereinbefore described the construction and operation of my improved apparatus more particularly with reference to the insertion and removal of the liners; it will be understood, however, that the said apparatus is equally applicable for the insertion and removal of the tubes of built up guns.

It is obvious that the hydraulic apparatus might be applied to the muzzle of the gun if desired.

l/Vhat I claim is- 1. The combination, with a built up gun, of a hydraulic apparatus comprising a cylinder b screwed on the breech end of the outer tube or hoop of the gun, a piston c working in said cylinder, a socket c secured to the said piston and to the breech end of the liner, and a ICO IIO

withdrawing rod g engaging the piston c at its rear end and the liner at its forward end, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a built-up gun, of a hydraulic apparatus comprising a cylinder b screwed on the breech end of the outer tube or hoop of the gun, a piston c Working in said cylinder, a socket e secured to the said piston and to the breech end of the liner a, a withdrawing rod g engaging the piston c at its rear end and extending through the bore of the gun, and a head g formed on said rod to engage with the muzzle end of the liner, substantially as described for the purpose specified.

3. The combination with a built-up gun, of a hydraulic apparatus comprising a cylinder h screwed ou the breech end of the outer tube or hoop of the gun, a piston c working in said cylinder and adapted to be engaged with the liner a and a plate f provided with cup leathers and adapted to bear against the end of the gun and tightly close the end of the cylindex', substantially as described for the purpose specified.

4. The combination with a built-up gun, of

a hydraulic apparatus comprising a two-chambered cylinder b screwed on the breech end of the outer tube or hoop of the gun, a piston c working in one of said chambers, a socket e for coupling said piston c with the rear end of the liner a, a piston c2 working in the other of said chambers, and a rod g extending through the bore of the gun, said rod havlng a .head g at its forward end engaging the muzzle end of the liner anda uut g2 at lts rear end for connecting the rod with the piston c2, substantially as described for the purpose specied.

In Witness whereof I have hereuntovsigned my name in the presence of two subscribing M. GLEDHILL, Director of Str Joseph Lmct.

Whitworth Oo., 

